Marked for Patrick Greil
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Elias Franco falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Altach
Mike-Steven Bähre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Altach training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elias Franco is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lukas Jäger, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Altach's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Altach has to find a result from somewhere.
Match25 Nov 2026
The cup run ends for Altach
1‑2 against Sturm Graz, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match30 Nov 2026
Altach are in real trouble now
Position 8, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Altach
Mike-Steven Bähre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Altach training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elias Franco is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match25 Nov 2026
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Patrick Greil had Altach level again within 4 minutes, and Sturm Graz never got to play with a lead at all.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
9 matches without a win for Altach
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Altach are no longer polite ones.
The terraces16 Nov 2026
8th and falling: the mood at Altach has gone
14 points and a position everybody in the ground can do the arithmetic on. The songs have stopped being about the team and started being about surviving, which is a different noise entirely.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Altach
Mike-Steven Bähre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match14 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Altach against Grodig
2‑3 to Grodig, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Altach needed to.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Lukas Jäger left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Lukas Jäger will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Altach's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Altach has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Elias Franco falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Benedikt Zech, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.45 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Market9 Nov 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Match7 Nov 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Rapid Wien leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Vesel Demaku asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Salif Tietietta: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Altach have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Altach's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Altach has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Altach
Mike-Steven Bähre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Altach training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elias Franco is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Altach will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match10 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Altach
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Altach are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Filip Milojević is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Elias Franco falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Wolfsberger AC leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Altach will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Salif Tietietta at 21 — 7.72
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Salif Tietietta did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Elias Franco falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Vesel Demaku gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Altach will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Altach
Mike-Steven Bähre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Altach training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elias Franco is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Altach will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match7 Sep 2026
Altach sink to position 9
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Altach
Mike-Steven Bähre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Altach training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elias Franco is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ziad El Sheiwi, and the manager let it.
Match5 Sep 2026
No time for Rapid Wien to settle
The goal that put Rapid Wien ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Altach equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Altach, another week without a signature from Vesel Demaku.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.81, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Altach will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Elias Franco falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match29 Aug 2026
Red Bull Salzburg left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vesel Demaku, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Shots: 14, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Altach will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Altach did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Altach, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Altach
Mike-Steven Bähre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Lukas Jäger pulls a muscle — 17 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Patrick Greil. 2‑1 against Austria Wien, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Aug 2026
Marlon Mustapha had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Admira Wacker were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Elias Franco gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Elias Franco has just signed for Altach, and for once the answer mattered.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Soumaïla Diabaté, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.04
A mark of 8.04 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Elias Franco falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.85 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Soumaïla Diabaté has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dejan Stojanović, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Patrick Greil commits to Altach for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Patrick Greil, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Dejan Stojanović's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market10 Aug 2026
Paul Piffer is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Altach has been clear about where Paul Piffer stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market10 Aug 2026
Experience through the door at Altach
Nils Schouterden arrives at 37 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 22 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dejan Stojanović commits to Altach for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Altach
Mike-Steven Bähre was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match1 Aug 2026
Sturm Graz left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dejan Stojanović has his answer from Altach; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Benedikt Zech, and the manager let it.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Ousmane Diawara at his very best
Marked 8.39. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Altach.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Altach, another week without a signature from Benedikt Zech.